Family fortunes favour new dad Steve

Cottesmore PGA Professional and new dad Steve Grouwstra is keeping golf in the family ahead of the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship qualifier at Lambourne.

Grouwstra, 30, will tee up at the event on May 19 with the aim of securing a place in the £78,000 championship final at the Oxfordshire in July.

And he will have the youngest supporter of any player in the field in the shape of his nine-month-old daughter Ella.

Grouwstra admitted that opportunities to play and practise have been stunted somewhat since his partner Faye gave birth last year, although he has already taken the youngster out on the course.

“You don’t realise how much free time you have until it’s gone,” he joked. “I have had her out on the course already though pushing her around in her pram. She’s got a putter too although that’s far too big for her at the moment!

“I think for me it has just put everything in perspective really. When you have a young child you do have to put the golf on hold from time to time.

“I still enjoy being out on the course though and I’m really looking forward to getting out there for this event.”

**Lambourne Club, the venue for the regional qualifier.

Grouwstra has made a life for himself in the south of England after moving down from Hull to pursue a career in golf in 2010.

And he admitted that after tough beginnings his decision has changed his life for the better.

“It was tough to leave home, I have a close family up there with three sisters and when I first moved I was living in a flat in Crawley with a guy I had never met before,” he recalled.

“I found it difficult at first but since then I haven’t looked back and it’s been the best decision I ever made. I met my partner Faye here and now we are planning on getting married next year.

“She works at Cottesmore too as a personal trainer so the place has become a real home from home for us as we spend so much time there.

“The family is definitely my main focus at the moment but hopefully as the year goes on I’ll get the chance to get out and play a bit more competitive golf.”

Other players competing in the Lambourne regional qualifier include: Stuart Boyle (Wentworth), Rob Edwards (Swanmore), Lee Jackson (North Oxford), Darren Mustchin (West Sussex), Tim Newton (Calcot Park), Daniel Seymour (Winchester) and Martin Woodbridge (Bearwood Lakes).